Fun in the sun

The sun is shining. The road is calling.Travelers who heed the call can drive in any direction - for a few minutes or a few hours - and be sure to find some entertaining summertime activity.

Here are a few activities that are well worth the drive from Columbus.

The sun is shining. The road is calling.Travelers who heed the call can drive in any direction - for a few minutes or a few hours - and be sure to find some entertaining summertime activity. Here are a few activities that are well worth the drive from Columbus.

A party in Pittsburgh

Travelers will find Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Regatta at the place where the Ohio River begins. But the action at this free event, which takes place July 3 and 4 and attracts about 400,000 visitors annually, isn't just on the water.

Look, up in the sky: BASE jumpers, skydivers and paragliders, oh, my!

And down on dry land: music on multiple stages, kids' play areas, mountain bike demonstrations, food enough to stuff Pittsburgh, vendors of every kind, plenty of games and other fun stuff.

Still, the water is the reason for the event, billed as the largest inland regatta in the United States. The river will host powerboat racing, water-stunt shows, a bass-fishing tournament, dragon-boat racing, personal watercraft demonstrations and a wacky "Anything That Floats" race.

The events are centered on Point State Park. Just look for the giant fountain. Or the confluence of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers, flowing to form the mighty Ohio. You can't miss it. And you shouldn't.

• The Valley Gem stern-wheeler will offer daily rides on the Ohio and Muskingum rivers from its dock in Marietta beginning Saturday. Several specialty cruises are also scheduled in the summer and fall. Call 740-373-7862 or visit www.valleygemstern

wheeler.com.

• The Lorena Sternwheeler, based in downtown Zanesville, offers sightseeing rides and dinner cruises on the Muskingum River on selected Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through fall. Call 1-800-743-2303 or visit www.visit

zanesville.com.

• Several Ohio River cruises and tours are offered in the Cincinnati area. Most of the boats are docked opposite the city in northern Kentucky. Among those offering tours are Queen City Riverboats, 859-292-8687 or www.queencityriver boats.com; BB Riverboats, 1-800-261-8586 or www. bbriverboats.com; and Ride the Ducks Newport, 859-815-1439 or www.newport

ducks.com.

A dino in Chicago

At the Field Museum in Chicago, Sue will be celebrating her 10th anniversary - give or take 67 million years.

Sue is the largest and most complete tyrannosaur fossil ever discovered. She was placed on display 10 years ago and has entertained (in her own, quiet way) more than 16 million visitors.

Now the exhibit has gotten a face-lift worthy of Sue's toothy visage.

New displays include "RoboSUE: The T. rex Experience," billed as a journey back in time, where visitors will encounter a realistic robot version of Sue that senses and reacts to movements. Other robot dinosaurs are also on the prowl, including fierce velociraptors and a maternal triceratops.

The museum will also premiere the 3-D movie Walking the T. rex: The Story of Sue.

More cultural events and exhibits:

• The Toledo Museum of Art will host a very groovy exhibit, "The Psychedelic '60s: Posters From the Rock Era," from June 11 through Sept 12. The exhibit includes 150 posters, including 50 black-light posters, from 1966 to 1971. Call 419-255-8000 or visit www.toledo museum.org.

• Where's opera, doc? How about Wooster? Ohio Light Opera, based at the College of Wooster, will open its 2010 festival season June 19 with a performance of Kismet. Other performances scheduled (all in English, hurray!) include Gypsy, The Count of Luxembourg, El Capitan, Iolanthe, Patience and The Gypsy Princess. For more information, including schedules and ticket prices, call 330-263-2345 or visit www.ohiolightopera.org.

• The works of 17 Ohio ceramics artists will be on display at two museums this summer and fall. "Form, Figure & Function: Contemporary Ohio Ceramics," celebrating Ohio's rich ceramics heritage, will be on display at the Canton Museum of Art (330-453-7666 or www.cantonart.org) through July 25 and at the Zanesville Museum of Art (740-452-0741 or www.

zanesvillemuseumofart.org) from Nov. 6 through Jan. 8.

A cruise on the Cuyahoga

The official ribbon-cutting on a new canoe and kayak livery in downtown Kent will take place July 3 during the town's Heritage Festival.

But Crooked River Adventures, sponsored by the Kent State University Department of Recreational Services, has already begun offering rides daily from John Brown Tannery Park. The livery also rents bicycles for use on the Portage Hike and Bike Trail and the town's other trails. River/bike combination tours are also offered.

The livery is part of a university and city effort to increase recreational use of the Cuyahoga River.

"It's an new opportunity to get on the scenic Cuyahoga," said Kim Rufra, the university's associate director of recreational services.

And don't worry. This stretch of the river hardly ever catches fire. Actually, the river, as it flows out of Kent, is quite lovely and relatively clean.

The trips begin below the old dam downtown and wind through residential and wooded areas.

"Our first paddlers reported seeing deer and heron along the way," Rufra said.

Trips will be offered on a reservation basis Mondays through Thursdays. The livery will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fridays through Sundays, with trips beginning at approximately 9 a.m., noon and 5 p.m.

Kayak rentals start at $20. Canoes start at $18 a person. The livery's 3.5-mile trip, which takes about 21/2 hours to complete, will end at Brust Park in Munroe Falls. A 5-mile trip, which ends at Waterworks Park in Cuyahoga Falls and takes about five hours, will also be available. Shuttles return patrons to Kent.

• The historic hand-operated Muskingum River locks - a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark - will begin summer hours of operation on Friday. The locks, built in 1841, allow rowers and power-boaters to float the river from north of Zanesville all the way to Marietta. (Philo Lock 9 is temporarily closed for repairs). For more information, including fees and hours of operation, call Dillon State Park at 740-453-4377 or visit www.ohiodnr. com.

• Hocking Hills Canoe Livery offers an unusual way to view this scenic Ohio region. The livery offers canoe, kayak and raft rentals on the gentle Hocking River as well as special trips such as moonlight tours throughout the summer. Campsites are also available. Call 1-800-634-6820 or visit www.

hockingriver.com.

• The Mohican River is a popular float trip, and several liveries in the Loudonville area offer canoe and other rentals. Among them are Loudonville Canoe Livery, 1-888-226-6356, www.

• In southeastern Ohio, the Little Miami Canoe Rental offers float trips on the Little Miami River, a state and national scenic river. Call 1-800-634-4277 or visit www.littlemiamicanoe. com.

A walk among beauty

June 12 and 13 marks the annual open house at Schnormeier Gardens near Gambier. The beautiful private gardens cover 75 acres.

Visitors will see a waterfall garden framed by a Japanese teahouse and a Chinese-style bridge, a stream garden passing through a planting of rare conifers, a hosta garden surrounded by a 750-foot rock wall, a serenity garden, a meadow garden, a "quarry" garden and many other garden areas.

The owners, Ted and Ann Schnormeier, began construction of the gardens in 1996 and have established a foundation to maintain it and to someday operate it as a public garden.

"It's wonderful," said photographer Jeff Thompson, who has spent many days wandering and photographing the site. "It's an extraordinary piece of work. It's amazing how much they've accomplished in 15 years."

In addition to the open house, Schnormeier Gardens is open by appointment. Call 740-427-2612 or visit www.schnormeier

gardens.org for information.

More gardens to visit:

• The huge, beautiful Dawes Arboretum near Newark covers more than 1,800 acres and includes more than 8 miles of hiking trails and a 4-mile scenic drive. The collection includes more than 4,500 different kinds of trees, shrubs and other plants. Call 1-800-443-2937 or visit www.dawesarb.org.

• Holden Arboretum near Kirtland in northeastern Ohio is a sunny, visitor-friendly oasis with many garden areas linked by trails ranging in difficulty from very easy to rugged. Today, the arboretum covers more than 3,600 acres. Call 440-946-4400 or visit www.

holdenarb.org.

• Kingwood Center Gardens is the former estate of Mansfield industrialist Charles Kelley King. The site covers 47 acres and includes several garden areas, including the historic formal garden near the Kingwood Hall mansion. The mansion is also open for tours on weekends. For more information, call 419-522-0211 or visit www.kingwood

center.org.

sstephens@dispatch.com

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